Kimball Junction growth peaking

More businesses flood area, growth reaching cap

More and more businesses are in agreement: Kimball Junction is the place to be. With more businesses moving into the area and continued upgrades to projects already on the ground, growth is booming in the area.

A brand new Del Taco sits just off of State Road 224. The Smith's Food & Drug Store is investing upwards of $10 million on upgrades to the store and building the fuel center. The new Park City Chamber/Bureau Visitor Center was finished late in 2012. Mountain America Credit Union is constructing a new bank, and Tanger Outlets is ironing out final details in building out more stores and signing future tenants. In short, business is good.

"It has certainly has changed dramatically just in the time I've been here," said Park City Chamber/Bureau President and CEO Bill Malone, "It really went from not much out there to what it is today, where you can look at it and see how there are businesses that cater not just to locals, but to those here on vacation too. It has several hospitality components, places like Newpark Resort and even the access to ski resorts and dining and movie theaters. It has all these components now."

Randy Carr, owner of the new Kimball Junction business Kumon Park City, said he spent six months looking for the right space to put his business before he settled in Kimball Junction.

"It really is one of the best locations," Carr said.

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"With the proximity to all the neighborhoods, it is in a central spot There is a lot of potential in the area."

Over the past few months and into the New Year, construction crews have been hard at work to complete the recent additions to the area. Projects that were approved years ago through by Summit County are finally getting a start, either wrapping up or with an expected completion date this year.

The Smith's Grocery Store, one of the most expensive upgrades in the area, is revamping the entire façade and interior, including an additional 15,000 square feet that will be added to the space.

"We're just in process of starting the project, only a month or two into it," said Marsha Gilford, the Smith's Vice President of Public Affairs. "It won't be completed until next spring."

"We'll be adding all new merchandising racks, shelving and displays that will give us a fabulous new store."

Steve Sorensen, the Vice President of Corporate Development added to her sentiment.

"This is helping to improve The Village, revamping that shopping center," he said. "We are making that area a destination, one our store will be part of.

"We have potential for growth with the current community, and it is a very important community to us. We want to make sure we're providing shoppers with very best experience, but right now we are bursting at the seams. We need to expand to accommodate customer needs."

The entire area is teeming with development, from the galleries and bowling at Redstone Town Center to the nail salons and burrito shops at Newpark, but the area is quickly running out of open space to build out further projects, said Summit County Planner Kimber Gabryszak. Whether or not available space will be available for future developments is in question. Several projects got the OK years ago but waited to begin construction.

"In moving forward, the Kimball Junction area is already pretty developed," Gabryszak said. "The potential for new projects is not very high, but redevelopment is a possibility."

"In terms of available property external to Kimball junction, there is not much available anymore," she added. "A few parcels have not been developed, but the planning commission working on general plan update, starting to move forward into another phase of development and growth projection where we focus on growth density in town centers like Kimball Junction. In terms of what zoning currently allows, there is not much left and there won't be much in the future."

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